Moonbyul checked her microphone pack one last time as another staff member checked Solar’s.

“Byul-ah, you have something underneath your eye,” Solar pointed to her face as the staff member left.

Moonbyul put a hand up to her face, “here?”

Solar looked over and sighed. She moved closer to Moonbyul, “I think it’s glitter,” she mumbled, their faces just inches apart. Moonbyul could feel her heart beat furiously in her chest. Whenever Solar was near her, it took everything in her not to hug her or to hold her.

She studied Solar’s face. The pout her lips made and how her eyebrows came together like a frown whenever she was concentrating on something was one of the many expressions Moonbyul loved. 

“Ah! I got it!” Solar announced, showing her the debris on her finger.

“Moonbyul ssi, Solar ssi standby,” one of the staff warned

“Yes~” the chorused together.

Moonbyul and Solar were invited on a travelling show to showcase a country’s best tourist spots.

Moonbyul felt her legs shake. Other than performing on stage or fan meets, she still wasn’t used to being on stage. Solar held her wrist, “Are you ok? Don’t be nervous,” she comforted. She put a gentle hand on the small of Moonbyul’s back as the staff motioned for them to walk onto the stage.

“Please welcome Mamamoo’s Solar and Moonbyul!” the hosts introduced.

They were welcomed by applause and smiling faces. Solar and Moonbyul bowed their heads as they introduced themselves.

“So the title you named the trip was ‘YongKong Byulkong in Hong Kong,” one of the host read from the teleprompter.

“Yes, YongKong Byulkong is what we named ourselves. It seems to be popular with our fans,” Solar laughed.

“Where did you come up with it?” another host asked

Solar squeezed Moonbyul’s hand as a signal to answer, “It’s from Alkong Dalkong, we just replaced the first syllable with the first syllable of our first names,” Moonbyul answered with a smile.

“awwww”

“that’s cute”

They heard the crowd say.

“It was a very easy decision to make. Solar unnie suggested it and we decided to use it,” Moonbyul added.

“So would you go on this trip with your lover?” the host asked

“Yes! Of course, it was a lot of fun” Solar answered brightly.

One of the hosts had a sly expression on his face, “speaking of lover, are either of you in a relationship right now?”

Moonbyul and Solar laughed, “no, not at the moment”

It’s true that they were both single, but Moonbyul had just broken up with her boyfriend, Jin.

“Why are you asking a personal question like that?” the other host nagged

“Ah, that’s too bad. I was hoping I could get something out of them,” the host joked. “Then what about first love?”

Solar looked out into the audience, who watched her like a hawk.

“My first love was back in high school. But I feel like it was more of an unrequited love. I never had the chance to confess because I started training to be a singer in high school” she giggled

Moonbyul stared at Solar face, knowing exactly who she was talking about.

“I bet that guy’s kicking himself right now,” the host joked, “what about you Moonbyul ssi?”

Moonbyul shook her head and smiled, “I don’t think I remember my first love,” she lied. She looked over at Solar. 'She's my first love' is what she wanted to say.

Solar raised an eyebrow at her.

“Well, let’s get ready to watch Yongkong Byulkong in Hong Kong!” the hosts announced.

They played their trip on the monitor. A lot of people laughed at their bickering moments and their beagle antics, but Moonbyul couldn’t focus on it.

A couple days before, Moonbyul asked Solar the same question out of curiosity and Solar gushed about her first love.

“His name was Nam YoonDo. He was one of the most handsome boys in our school. He was also such a gentleman to everyone,” Solar explained.

“Nam YoonDo?” Moonbyul repeated, “Isn’t that Eric oppa’s Korean name?”

Solar smiled widely, “yeah! We went to the same high school”

“Ahh I see,” Moonbyul replied. She went into the other room. “She must’ve been really happy when they were paired together on ‘We Got Married’ then,” she remembered. She knew there was a reason why they matched so well.

Her thoughts were interrupted when the hosts said their goodbyes and the audience clapped politely.

“Thank you Solar ssi and Moonbyul ssi. You worked hard today,” the hosts and the staff smiled, taking their microphones off.

“Thank you, you worked hard sunbae-nim” they both answered, bowing their heads.

Solar faced Moonbyul, “hey are you ok? You were spaced out for the entire thing,” she pointed out

“really? Oh no, what if I didn’t come out pretty on screen?” Moonbyul asked, with a worried expression on her face.

Solar giggled, “eyy, you’re always pretty,” she winked, walking past her to their dressing room.

“unnie, did we win?” Moonbyul questioned

Solar shook her head, “no, unnfortunately we didn’t”

Moonbyul stared at the floor, “that’s too bad” responded

Solar watched Moonbyul walk into the dressing room, “what’s wrong with her? She didn't respond with something greasy after I said that” she thought

X

Their van stopped in front of their dorm.

“Go inside and rest. You guys had a long day today,” their manager uttered, “you don’t have anything scheduled for tomorrow so you guys can relax”

“Yes unnie,” Moonbyul smiled

“Please get home safely,” Solar cautioned as she closed the door.

They watched as the van peeled away from the curb and walked into their building. Moonbyul pressed the button to the elevator.

Solar looked over at Moonbyul. “She must be upset about losing on the show,” she thought. She wasn’t used to her being this docile, “Byul-ah, wanna hang out at my place tonight?”Solar offered

The elevator doors opened, “hmm? Your place? Why?” She asked holding the doors open for Solar. Moonbyul looked down at her watched, “unnie, it’s 11 pm…”

Solar scoffed,” so? Just sleep over. You just seem really down right now. So let me cheer you up,” she grinned.

The elevator doors closed, “I’m not upset about anything,” she said, “but sure, I’ll hang out with you tonight” she smiled.

Solar punched in the code to her apartment and walked in, “don’t mind the mess. I was in a rush this morning,” she threw her bag onto the couch. “Do you want to wash up first?”

Moonbyul sat down on the couch next to her bag, “it’s ok. You can wash up first unnie”

Solar smiled, “okie. Be right back,” she sang as she disappeared into the washroom.

Moonbyul looked around the room and noticed the picture of her that Solar printed out. She laughed, remembering when they talked about it on Vapp.

All of a sudden a phone started to ring. Moonbyul walked back to the couch, thinking it was her phone. “where is this ringing coming from?” she asked herself.

She opened up Solar’s bag and her phone tumbled out. “Unnie, you have a missed ca-“ she looked down at the caller ID

Eric Oppa was what the screen read.

A message popped up afterwards.

“Yongsun-ah! You’re doing well right? Listen…I was wondering if you could meet me in front of the *BS Building tomorrow at noon. There’s something I’d like to tell you”

Moonbyul put the phone down. She felt the tears forming in her eyes. When she broke up with Jin she was devasted. But seeing Solar still keeping contact with Eric broke her heart. she didn’t feel this kind of heartbreak with Jin. No, this was way worse. She heard the washroom door opened and shoved the phone back into Solar’s bag.

“Go ahead Byul-ah,” Solar said wiping her face dry.

“Thanks unnie,” she answered speed walking into the washroom. She looked in the mirror and sighed. Why did she think she had a chance? She turned the tap on, hoping it would mask the sound of her sniffles.

When she finished washing up, she walked into the bedroom. Solar had already turned off the light, the light from her phone illuminating the room. She climbed into bed, next to Solar.

“Unnie, your eyes are gonna go bad if you keep looking at your screen in the dark,” Moonbyul lectured

“Yeah, yeah, yeah,” Solar groaned. She turned her screen off and pulled the covers up.

“Maybe she won’t meet with him tomorrow,” Moonbyul wished

“Byul-ah, sorry we couldn’t do anything fun tonight. I didn’t realize it was so late,” Solar apologized

“I told you it was pretty late,” Moonbyul mumbled under her breath. “Then hang out with me tomorrow. There’s an Italian restaurant I want to try. How’s noon?” She held her breath, waiting for the answer.

Solar turned to face her, “Ah sorry, I’m hanging out with my sister tomorrow at noon,” she lied.

“Your sister?” Moonbyul repeated, “have fun,” she smiled.

“We’ll go next time we’re off,” Solar promised. “Good night Byul-ah,” she rolled over and went to sleep.

“Good night unnie,” Moonbyul whispered staring at Solar’s back. She was going to have to get used to seeing Solar’s back, seeing her get into relationships, see her happy. While she just watched, from behind, as Solar get’s further away from her.

Moonbyul closed her eyes, falling asleep. A single tear fell from her eye and onto the pillow.

X

Solar locked her door, “so what are your plans for today?”

Moonbyul shrugged, “I don’t know. Maybe I’ll visit my family.”

“Alright, have fun Byul-Ah” she waved from the elevator.

“You too unnie,” Moonbyul smiled. She waited until the doors closed and ran towards the stairs. If she ran fast enough, she could beat Solar there.

Moonbyul huffed as she neared the *BS building. Eric was sitting down at a bench as Solar walked up to him. She crouched behind some bushes, trying to listen to what they were saying.

Eric stood up, “Yongsun-ah, you look good. I’m glad you came,” he gestured for her to sit.

Solar sat down, “thanks oppa, you look good too”

Eric put his hands underneath his thighs to cover how nervous he was, “about what I wanted to talk about,” he started

Moonbyul leaned in closer.

“I like you. A lot,” he looked over at Solar, “I don’t know why it took me this long to tell you”

Moonbyul saw Solar smile and tuck her hair behind her ear. She felt her heart drop down to her stomach. What she was afraid of, happened. Feeling dejected, she walked back to her apartment, fighting the tears.

She stopped by a convenience store, “I need a drink,” she thought picking up a pack of beer.

“Beer? Isn’t it a little early to be drinking alcohol?”

She turned around and found Jin smiling at her, “Byul-ah, you haven’t changed at all”

She tossed him a can, “come drink with me. I really didn’t want to drink alone”

They sat down outside, a can in their hands.

Jin took a swig of his beer, “now that I think about it, we didn’t get a chance to drink when we were dating”

Moonbyul giggled, “That’s because you’re always busy. Mr. International superstar” She smiled, “how were your schedules overseas? I tried to watch them, but they were speaking English too fast,” she confessed

Jin laughed, “That’s ok. I couldn’t understand a lot either. Americans speak too fast,” he laughed. “But we had a lot of fun there”

Moonbyul looked down at her can, “that’s good to hear,” she stopped, “Jin, I’m sorry it didn’t work out between us. You’re a great guy and I know you’ll make a girl happy once you settle down”

Jin put his can down, “you don’t need to apologize. I actually felt bad that we couldn’t spend time together because our schedules are so hectic.” He turned to face her, his face serious, “I don’t know what you’re going through and you don’t have to tell me. But I hope you know I’m here for you. Even though we aren’t together anymore, I’d still like you in my life as a friend.”

Moonbyul sniffled, “Thanks Jin”

X

Solar walked back to her apartment with an extra bounce in her step, feeling like a weight has been lifted off her chest. She stopped when she saw Moonbyul and Jin, “what the? She said she was going to visit family”

She observed them, knowing they used to date. Moonbyul playfully hit Jin on the arm, showing him the smile that made her crinkle her nose. 

Seeing them together made Solar feel uneasy. What were they saying? Are they getting back together? Before she could stop herself, she marched right up to them.

“Oh, noona! Hello,” Jin bowed politely

Solar bowed back, “congratulations on your North America debut Jin”

He smiled, “thank you noona”

“Hi unnie,” Moonbyul looked up confused, “are you back already?”

Solar didn’t answer, instead her gaze was fixated on the lack of space between Jin and Moonbyul.

Jin sensed the awkward atmosphere and stood up, “I should probably get going. I have dance practice soon,” he touched Moonbyul’s shoulder, “let’s hang out soon.” He bowed to Solar, “bye noona!”

Solar waved back at him then looked down at Moonbyul, “what were you guys talking about?”

Moonbyul took a sip of her beer, “nothing much. Just catching up”

Solar sat down, “did you guys get back together?”

Moonbyul raised an eyebrow at her, “no. We both agreed that we’re better as friends rather than lovers”

Solar leaned back in her chair feeling relieved,” ah I see.” Was it too selfish of her to want Moonbyul all to herself?

Moonbyul put the can down, “unnie, I’m sorry”

Solar stared back at her, taken aback,” for what? What happened?”

“I followed you today, when you went to meet Eric oppa,” Moonbyul stuttered. “I know he’s your first love and all but I just couldn’t help myself. I felt like Eric oppa was taking you away from me” She put her hands up, “not like your mine or anything! But I didn’t hear anything I swe-“

Solar leaned in and kissed Moonbyul on the lips. She pulled away and smiled.

Moonbyul sat frozen in her seat. She wasn’t sure if it was the alcohol or the kiss, but she started feeling hot, and a little bit dizzy.

“Dummy, why didn’t you at least stay for my response?” Solar asked

“Your response? What was your response?” Moonbyul urged

“I guess you’ll never know,” she zipped shut.

“What the heck? You said I should’ve waited for your response but now you won’t tell me?” Moonbyul complained

She rested her head onto Moonbyul’s shoulder, “yup”

X

1 hour before

“I like you. A lot,” Eric looked over at Solar, “I don’t know why it took me so long to tell you”

Solar smiled, tucking her hair behind her ear, “I’m so flattered that you feel that way oppa....But I love someone else”

Eric smiled, “I know. I just felt that if I didn’t at least confess, I’d regret it”

Solar nodded, “to be honest, Oppa was my first love, back in high school”

“Really?” Eric laughed, “I guess my timing is really no good”

Solar laughed too, “but I’m thankful that oppa was my first love. You showed me the kind of person I would want in a lover”

Eric smiled,” Well I’m honored to be your first love”

Solar stared ahead at the scenery in front of them, “Hearing oppa’s confession suddenly gave me the courage to confess myself. Maybe not today, or tomorrow,” she closed her eyes and pictured Moonbyul smiling at her, “but soon.”

[A/N]: for those who don't know, Alkong Dalkong means lovey dovey in Korean ^^